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Igbo Religion

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Igboland is an area of land in Southeast Nigeria that has its own unique culture which currently has a population of over five million (“Igbo”). Okonkwo is a highly honored patriarch of a Nigerian Igbo village whose story is told in the postcolonial fiction novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Exiled from his village for seven years, he loses all of the success he has worked for. As time passes by, his culture and religion struggle against the influence of newly arrived Christian missionaries as they attempt to change Igbo views and traditions. Throughout the story, the concept of chi is brought up, and it is regarded as a “personal god” in Igbo culture (Achebe, “Chi in Igbo Cosmology”) and is significant because it can guide a man to success or failure. …show more content…

Chi can be thought of as someone’s spirit or identity that lives in spiritland, and it is the third most important divinity in Igbo culture (“Deities of the Igbo Religion”). The Igbo believe that everything has a chi, and the chi found in nature were called the Alusi (Campbell). People with strong, benevolent chis would be successful in life, gaining wealth and happiness (Ohadike, “Igbo Culture and History”). People with chis that do not agree with their decisions tend to lose their success and suffer. If someone has a bad chi, Igbo people believe seeing a diviner or medicine man would make it stronger (Ohadike, “Igbo Culture and History”). In addition, people would pray and send sacrifices in order to make their chi more benevolent (Ohadike, “Igbo Culture and History”). Despite this fact, even if someone’s chi is very good, a man’s success is still ultimately dependent on how hard they work (Ohadike). Many Igbo people had an Ikenga in their household, which is a statue meant to remind them of their chi and how their spirits and gods affect daily life (“Deities of the Igbo

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